Puerto Rican isle is under the radar, but not for long

Culebra's most famous playa is Flamenco Beach. The crescent shaped stretch of powdery white sand and translucent turquoise water on the northwest side of the island has become a fixture on Caribbean's Best Beaches lists.

Photograph by: Archive photo
, Postmedia News

It's 12 p.m. and I'm being driven to the tiny Culebra airport by Carlos who manages the hotel I've been staying at. In about 30 minutes my plane takes off. I'm a little stressed. But I take my cue from Carlos who's chill. The airport is eight minutes away. Carlos even suggests doing a little sightseeing on the way.

But, then, at the entrance to the hotel, he spots Jose "Chiwy" Rivera, the hotel's gardener and, Carlos tells me, one of the island's foremost fishermen. "You have to see this guy. He can catch anything with his hands. Last week my wife saw an octopus and Chiwy fished it for her."

He suggests asking Rivera to demonstrate his skill to me.

The fisherman agrees, and hops in the car. So instead of sightseeing en route to the airport, Carlos steers his ATV toward a hidden dirt road minutes from the hotel that leads to a gorgeous rocky cove.

On the way Chiwy modestly tells me, "I can catch lobster with my hands. Here in Culebra the lobsters don't have claws."

We get out and the fisherman and I slink into the water. I dive under water and with my mask watch him in action. My plane is leaving in, like, 25 minutes and I've just begun a dip in the sea.

Chiwy nabs a bonefish, I think he said, in the time it takes to come up for breath, holds it up for me to see and before I know it we're back in the car.

That kind of spontaneous adventure is typical of Culebra, the 11-square-mile island, 27 kilometres off "mainland" Puerto Rico. Culebra is the quintessential off the beaten path, laid-back island paradise. Those who know it say that Culebra has some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. Add low prices, an uncultivated beauty and unexpected experiences such as bumping into a someone who'll nab a lobster for your dinner, and it's under-the-radar days are surely numbered.

I arrived in Culebra via a puddle jumper after a week in San Juan and a weekend in Vieques, a nearby island I thought was low key until I got to Culebra.

Over several days I explored Culebra's deserted and stunning, if facilities-lite, beaches, each with its own attributes and set of challenges to get to. At times I was accompanied by locals. Otherwise, I tooled around the island on the preferred method of transport of visitors: an electric golf cart.

Culebra's most famous playa is Flamenco Beach. The crescent shaped stretch of powdery white sand and translucent turquoise water on the northwest side of the island has become a fixture on Caribbean's Best Beaches lists.

I arrived at Flamenco late afternoon to a beach so empty it looked like it had been closed for the day. It was, sort of. The day trippers had just left, the owner of one of the nearby colourful food kiosks selling island specialities told me. "They come and leave with the ferry."

The ferry shuttles them from Fajardo on the isla grande or main island as Puerto Rico is known. The ride takes approximately two hours, and costs about $2. During spring break/holy week, Culebra attracts Puerto Rican university students who I hear sometimes sleep in front of Fajardo's ticket office to make sure they get a place on the ferry. (Though this might also be because the ferry has a reputation for unreliability.) But with miles of beach, even on holidays Flamenco is not crowded.

Today, though, I shared the beach with exactly three people, and a few of the 50,000 Sooty Terns that nest on Peninsula Flamenco.

I stretched out on my patch of sugar-white sand. After the last bit of heat had been squeezed out of the afternoon sun, I walked down the beach wondering why such a perfect place would not be full of high rise hotels.

Mystery solved when I saw a rusty, graffiti-covered military tank in the middle of the beach, a little way down.

Until 1973 Culebra was an aerial bombing site for the U.S. Navy. While the military presence was hardly popular, it did have the side effect of keeping developers at bay. This tank, an eyesore on the beach, was left as a monument to its past, but also, I supposed optimistically, a warning for the future: "The military presence saved Culebra from rampant overdevelopment. Keep it that way."

Later I had an appointment to tour more of its stunning beaches with Cecilia Rodriquez. Cecilia, originally from San Juan, now owns, with her husband, the island's only luxury inn, the Club Seabourne.

I showered quickly in the outdoor facilities in the campground behind Flamenco beach. Wild chickens were closing in on me as I stood under the drip drip shower.

I met Cecila in front of the food kiosks and we headed off. I saw how easy it is to navigate the island; the island has only two roads, albeit heavily potholed. Getting to specific beaches is harder; most are accessed via overgrown dirt paths and a lot of hiking from where we parked.

As we approached secluded Zoni beach, I saw signs that from afar looked like leftover military warnings. But on closer inspection they were turtle warnings. Zoni is home to some of the most endangered turtles in the world. They nest on the island spring and summer and residents are especially protective of this beach. Rodriguez kept reminding me to be careful where I walked lest I tread on a Leatherback or Hawskbill egg, despite the fact the turtle nesting area is cordoned off.

Later, we hiked for about 20 minutes over a rocky path to Carlos Rosario, a black-sand beach.

As we crisscrossed back through Dewey, the island's lone town, we encountered a mammoth - for Culebra - car jam; about 15 cars were lined up. Rodriguez explained that this was the day the island's lone filling station received gas. It's a big day on the island.

She also pointed out a few of the island's handful of restaurants such as Susie's, where fresh seafood is on offer, and Juanita Bananas, where there's island lobster, sofritos and margaritas made with limes grown onsite.

Melones Beach, a favourite amongst snorkelling enthusiasts is a gorgeous and healthy coral beach that is one of the easiest to access. You can walk there from town.

More beaches were out of reach at the end of the day. To get to pebbly Soldier's Point, the southernmost point of Culebra, Rodriguez tells me, you need to take a kayak. I did later on, and was rewarded with a biology book of marine life; starfish, stingrays and unspoiled reefs.

Another morning I paddled to Fulladoza Bay. "Turn right at the mangrove forest," Carlos told me, as I set off. "You can't miss it."

But I never got to Luis Pena Island, a nature reserve a mile across the bay. Or Rescasca Beach, the hardest to access - a rigorous hike or jeep ride through rock strewn canyon and ravines and a steep descent down Mount Rescasca, a dry tropical forest with rare trees like cupey and jaguey, and orchids growing between large boulders.

These beaches are, presumably, for those for whom the others aren't remote enough.

- Travel support provided by Puerto Rico Tourism.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

There are two commercial ways to get to Culebra from "mainland" Puerto Rico: the ferry from Fajardo (islaculebra.com) or aboard one of Puerto Rico's small domestic airlines, such as Vieques Air, which leaves from San Juan or Vieques (viequesairlink.com).

Where to stay

- Club Seabourne is Culebra's most upscale hotel/resort, located on the east side of the island (clubseabourne.com).

- There are several guest houses with typically colourfully painted facades in Dewey. The five-room Palmetto Guesthouse is recommended (palmettoculebra.com about $100 a night).

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Culebra's most famous playa is Flamenco Beach. The crescent shaped stretch of powdery white sand and translucent turquoise water on the northwest side of the island has become a fixture on Caribbean's Best Beaches lists.

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